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Monday, September 15, 2014

All Change

It seems like only yesterday that I was announcing on this blog my new position as Strange Horizons reviews editor. That day, however, was nearly four years ago, and in that time I've worked with incredible people and helped bring fantastic, thought-provoking, necessary criticism into the conversation about genre. It's been a privilege, and an enormously rewarding experience (not least in the form of two Hugo nominations), and I'm extremely grateful for it. Four years, however, is a long time, and as editor in chief Niall Harrison announced today in an editorial, I will be stepping down from the position of reviews editor at the end of the year.

So first, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the reviewers I've worked with in the last four years, the department's contact managers, Donna Denn, Dan Hartland, and Tim Moore, the Strange Horizons proofreaders, and last but not least the readers and commenters who reminded us every week how vibrant and passionate (if, sometimes, a little too vibrant and passionate) the community of genre fans and readers are. (We are working on getting comments back on reviews and the blog, and I'm hopeful that before I step down this will have been achieved.)

Second, I want to welcome and wish the best of luck to the new reviews team: senior editor Maureen Kincaid Speller, and editors Aishwarya Subramanian and Dan Hartland. Those of you who read the magazine will recognize all three from their reviews for the department (as well as theirownblogs), and will join me in feeling certain that I'm leaving it in more than capable hands. I'll be working with all three to hand over the department until the end of the year, and I'm very excited to see what they bring us.

Third, we are still working to staff up the department. Along with Niall's editorial, we've published a call for a media reviews editor, to handle reviews of film, TV, games, and other media. This is a subject that's been handled ad-hoc for most of the department's lifetime, and it feels like more than time to have someone focusing on it full-time. In addition, at the Strange Horizons blog Niall has published a call for new reviewers. If you're interested in writing for the Strange Horizons reviews department, drop us a line--more details about what we're looking for and how to contact us are at the link. We are, in particular, looking to increase the diversity of our reviewing body, and will be glad to hear from women, PoCs, LGBTQ people, and other under-represented groups.

Fourth and finally, what's next for me? There are a few projects I'm working on that I hope to be able to tell you more about in the coming months, and of course I always want to get more writing done on this blog, and will hopefully have more time to do that now. But reviews editor or not, I am still--as I have been for almost as long as I've been writing online--a Strange Horizons reviewer, and you'll be seeing my work, and that of so many other smart and talented people, in that magazine for, I hope, some time to come.

For what it's worth -- not that a random Internet guy's opinion amounts to much -- my limited time forces me to be very selective about blogs I read. I've mentioned others here -- Steven Lloyd Wilson of Pajiba, and I'll choose this time to give a shout-out to Matt Hilliard, who introduced me to your blog. I wouldn't be here if I didn't have deep respect for your analysis, so I'm really looking forward to what you've got in store.

I'm interested in writing, but if you're looking for a diversity candidate, I suggest Mark Oshiro (markreads.net) -- not with his knowledge or permission, for the record -- but make sure he reads stuff he hates. In my mind his magnum opus was his reading of Twilight. >:D